How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?
by ImaSupernaturalCSI
Summary: They had it all. Then their perfect life was shattered...and only one of them will be left to pick up the pieces. D/L and Lucy, rated for language. R&R if you'd like. Finally complete.
1. Just Another Day In Paradise

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"; they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.**

**Author's Note: Betcha all thought I'd disappeared completely, huh? Truth be told I just didn't have any time to write, and the plot bunny packed it's fedora and badge and went on permanent leave. But then this little nugget became ingrained in my subconscious. And I'll tell you right now...I can tell you already this one's got some mild epic-ness to it. But I have an idea where it's going. Quite a bit is written already but updates may still be few and far between as I straighten out the ending. I apologize in advance and expect my reviewers (if there are any) to keep me on my toes. :)**

**Author's Note II: I know that Messer single parent stories abound. This is my take on it.**

**Author's Note III_: _I'm not a fan of the title. But it's all I've got for now.**

**Author's Note IV: Last one, I swear. Constructive criticism is usually warranted and always appreciated. Like it, love it, hate it, please let me know.**

**-CSI:NY-**

_**CHAPTER ONE: Just Another Day In Paradise**_

_BeepBeepBeepBeepBee-_

SMACK.

"Ow!"

Next to her husband, Lindsay Messer buried her head in her pillow to keep her laughter to a minimum. Her daughter, asleep down the hall, had just gone back to sleep-she checked the clock-a half hour ago, and she didn't want to wake her up again. She sighed into her pillow as she calmed down. _If his alarm went off, that means I've only got a half hour more._ She closed her eyes tighter, turning from the window, hoping she might actually get the full half hour.

Hot breath tickled the back of her ear and she felt teeth nip at her earlobe. "Good morning, Montana," a voice whispered in her ear.

"How's your hand? Did you miss the corner of the nightstand this time?" Lindsay muttered sleepily. She didn't turn over. _Twenty-eight minutes, damn it._

"Yep," her husband, Danny, said, as he put a hand on her shoulder and rolled her over so she was facing him. She kept her eyes closed. His grandfather's dog tags dangled against her nose, and she wrinkled it to get them away. "I'm makin' breakfast. Kitchen. Ten minutes."

"I don't have to get up for another twenty-six minutes," Lindsay replied, never opening her eyes. "And if you start banging around in the kitchen you're going to wake your daughter."

"_Our_ daughter," Danny gently pointed out. "And no, I won't." He kissed the side of her jaw and crawled out of bed, peeling off the wifebeater he'd slept in.

Lindsay heard footsteps disappear from the room. _Twenty minutes,_ she thought happily.

The comforter disappeared in a flash, and she automatically drew her knees to her chest. "Danny!" she protested as the chill of the morning crawled up her bare legs and straight to her Tweety Bird shorts.

Too loudly.

From two doors down she heard a wail. "Dan_ny_!" she groused.

His laughter echoed from the kitchen, where he'd ran to escape the wrath of his wife at 5:45 in the morning. "_You_ woke her up!" he called back matter-of-factly.

Lindsay stared at the ceiling for a few moments. Then she shut off her alarm and climbed out of bed, grabbing her fluffy robe from the back of the chair. She tied it as she came into the nursery. Lucy's tear-streaked face peeked at her from inbetween the crib slats. "Hi there, baby girl," Lindsay said soothingly, picking up Lucy. "Did _Daddy_ wake you up this morning?"

"I heard that!" Danny yelled over the sizzle of a frying pan.

She shook her head. "Well, Daddy's making breakfast for Mommy, I suppose you can eat with us this morning." Then she sniffed. "Oof. _After_ you get changed."

Two hands reached around her and plucked Lucy from her grasp. "I can do that. Eggs are almost done, go add what you want," Danny said. He raised Lucy above his head and stuck his tongue out at his daughter. "Hello there _bella_," he said. Then he wrinkled his nose. "Ooh, Momma's right, you smell."

"Danny!" Lindsay shook her head with a grin.

"Aw come on Montana, she didn't understand that," Danny said, bringing her over to the changing table. Lindsay stayed in the doorway as Danny changed her like an expert. Lucy giggled the whole way through it as Danny recounted the stats of the Yankees-Tigers game the night before in a singsong-y voice. Hearing about Alex Rodriguez ending the game on a flyout in right field had never sounded so funny.

Lindsay was in awe of her husband. Not that this was a new feeling. Every day he did something that made her love him even more-even if he had woke her up so she could be witness to this moment. Totally worth the loss of sleep. He flashed her a smug grin as she kissed him on the lips and the three of them went into the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Danny was shaving as Lindsay towel-dried her hair next to him in the bathroom. Lucy happily jabbered away from the playpen in the living room. "So you're going to stop by the corner deli and grab the groceries when you get off tonight?" Lindsay asked as she bent over at the waist and tousled her hair.

"Yep, and then I'll grab Lucy-Bug from daycare and she and Daddy will spend some quality time with the Mets pregame show until Mommy gets home," he said, rinsing his face. He dried off and looked at Lindsay, whose hair was flyaway and wet from the towel. "You look good like that," he said, rubbing the top of her head and mussing up her already wild hair.

She hit him with the towel. "Shut up."

"All right, I'm outta here. I love you." He kissed the top of her wet hair.

"I love you, too. See you in twelve hours," Lindsay replied. She heard him saying goodbye to Lucy, pictured him grabbing his bomber jacket and walking the Harley out of the apartment to the elevator. The door closed, and Lindsay checked her watch. Lucy needed to be at daycare in a half hour. She looked in the mirror at her towel-dried hair. _You look good like that_, Danny had said.

She decided not to straighten it that day. She chose a pair of jeans and a purple blouse and put her wedding band on. Out in the living room, Lucy was having a wonderful conversation with something in her unintelligible baby babble. "All right, Lucy-Bug," she said, coming out of the bedroom. "Let's-"

She froze at the end of the hall.

She could see what Lucy was having the conversation with.

Or rather…_the who_.

They stood at the door. They were wearing baggy jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt…and they were pointing a gun in her direction.

Lindsay's mind raced as the color drained from her face. _What the hell is going on…_Her gun was locked in the drawer in their bedroom. _Oh God, don't hurt my baby_. She wondered how far away her husband was. _Where is my phone…_ Could she disarm the attacker? No, not when they were that close to Lucy with a loaded gun. _Jesus, Danny must've walked right by them on his way out!_ Down below, she heard the unmistakable roar of a Harley Davidson rev up and then disappear down the block. _He was still here! He was right here!_

"Mrs. Messer. Grab the baby," they said. "We're going to walk out of here like nothing's going on."

"This is a mistake," Lindsay said. "Whoever you are…"

"It's no mistake," her soon-to-be kidnapper barked. "Grab the kid and let's _move_."

Lindsay crossed the room and swept Lucy into her arms. "You're not going to get any ransom for us," she said, as Lucy sensed her mother's anxiety and started whimpering.

"We only want one thing, and we'll get it…if he wants his baby girl back in one piece," the stranger said. "Now _move_."

_If _he_…_Lindsay's heart sank. _Danny!_


	2. Rude Awakening

_**CHAPTER TWO: Rude Awakening**_

"Y'know, one a' these days I might actually get to the office and put my stuff away before I get called to a scene," Danny said as he parked his bike up the street from where two NYPD patrol cars and an OCME van were parked. "And then your ugly mug won't be the first thing I see at seven in the morning."

"Good morning to you too!" Dr. Sheldon Hawkes grinned from a few feet away.

"Missed your alarm clock and hit the nightstand again, Messer?" Detective Don Flack asked knowingly. He raised an eyebrow, and Danny laughed. "What've we got?" he asked.

"Where's your kit?" Hawkes was already at work on the body, the sleeves on his longsleeve blue shirt rolled up to the elbows. Danny could see a liver thermometer sticking out from the body on the ground.

"Mac called while I was on my way here. Unlucky for me I was at a red light and heard it ring. It's hard to talk on a phone on a bike, ya know that? Wanted me out here ASAP…so today we get to share." Hawkes tossed him a pair of gloves and he bent down next to the former ME. "Who's this poor schmuck?" He studied the body and frowned. "And why does he look familiar?"

"Sal Cuccione," Flack said, reading from his notebook.

"Are you fucking _kidding_ me?" Danny demanded. The outburst shocked both his friends.

"Danny, what the hell?" Flack asked.

But Danny was no longer on the street. Not physically. Inside his head, his memories were taking him twenty years back to a parking lot near Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx.

* * *

_August, 1988_

_Another beer bottle smashed into pieces against the asphalt and Sal Cuccione burst into laughter. The rest of the Tanglewood crew found it funny, but not near as funny as Sal. "Jesus, Sal," Louie Messer said. "Maybe we oughta cut ya off, huh?"_

"_Bullshit, Louie," Sal shot back. "I've only had a six-pack, I can go at least another one before I'm _really_ buzzed!" They erupted into laughter._

_Danny Messer leaned against the hood of his brother's car. He should have known better. Danny hated it when his car was in the shop, but when Louie heard him making plans with Aaron, he'd said, "I'm headin' to Pelham tonight, you need a ride?"_

_That had been two hours ago. Danny was mentally calculating the distance from the park to Aaron's house and wondered if he could still walk it and have enough time to hang out with him before he had to head back home._

"_Yo Louie, you gonna be here a while?" Danny asked his brother. He wasn't entirely sure Louie had heard him-he was on his second or third beer himself. If Louie was just gonna hang here all night, Danny could go hang with Aaron and Louie could hitch a ride home with Cuccione or Zabo or one of the other guys or hit the last subway home._

"_Whatsa matter Danny Boy?"_

_He hated it when people called him that. Especially drunk morons like Sal Cuccione._

"_You don't want to play with the big boys?"_

"_I think hangin' with you is droppin' my IQ," Danny shot back dryly. "Louie-"_

"_Too good to hang with us, College Boy?" Sal Zabo slurred from his seat next to Louis' front tire._

"_All right boys," Sonny Sassone said from his position on the hood of his own vehicle. "Play nice." Automatically, the talking ceased. When Sonny said something, everybody listened._

_A pair of headlights pulled into the parking lot. "Shit," Louie said, recognizing the car. "Fucking Pelham boys."_

_Sal Cuccione cracked another beer, then started walking toward the headlights._

"_What the fuck is he doin'?"_

_The car stopped, and two people got out. Both sported Pelham tattoos on their shoulders. _

"_It's showtime, boys," Sonny said with a grim smile. He reached into his backseat and pulled out a baseball bat._

_When Danny saw the bat, he knew. He knew why they were out there. And it wasn't going to end pretty._

* * *

"Danny!"

Hawkes's voice snapped Danny back to the present. He blinked and shook his head. "Where were you?" his friend asked him, removing the liver thermometer and making a mental note on TOD.

Danny didn't answer. Sal Cuccione stared blankly at the sky, a single shot to the forehead. "Powder burns," he noted, turning business and getting back to his job, forcing the past back to where it belonged. "This was an execution. Help me roll him over."

Hawkes and Flack exchanged looks as Hawkes helped turn Sal on his side. Danny pulled the collar of his shirt down to expose Sal's shoulder.

It had stretched a little with the years, and wrinkled a little with age, but the letters were still there, plain as day.

"Tanglewood?" Flack asked. He looked down at Danny. "You knew this guy?"

He caught the faraway look in his friend's eyes. "A lifetime ago," Danny replied absently.

"Guys?" Hawkes interrupted Flack and Danny. He was holding a small square of paper between two fingers. "You should see this." He looked at Danny seriously. "You especially."

Danny let Sal's body fall gently back to the pavement and turned his attention to Hawkes and the piece of paper. "The hell is that?"

Hawkes handed the piece of paper over and waited while Danny turned it over. His eyes widened as he read the five words scrawled on the paper.

_Danny. See you soon. –S_

The color drained from Danny's face, and Hawkes gripped his arm in a vise so he wouldn't hit the ground. "Who is 'S'?" Hawkes asked.

"Sonny Sassone?" Flack guessed, and Danny nodded mutely. "I thought that sonofabitch was still in Sing Sing."

"So did I," Danny replied. "So did I." Then he thought of something. He grabbed Flack by the jacket, urgency in his voice.

"Flack. I need a ride to Angel of Mercy. Sirens and all." He looked at Hawkes. "Hawkes, you'll be okay here?"

Hawkes looked at him, puzzled. "Yeah, but-"

"Thanks buddy, I'm sorry, but I gotta go." Flack was halfway to his car, and Danny was hot on his heels. He was closing the door as Flack was driving off.

Hawkes glanced down at the body of Sal Cuccione, then back at Danny's motorcycle.

They both weren't going to fit in the ME van.

* * *

**Author's Note****: Thank you to everybody who has read and/or reviewed! You all ROCK!**


	3. He's Back

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"- they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.**_

_**CHAPTER THREE: **_**He's Back**

Flack flashed his badge at the nurse who looked like she was about to protest Danny's running in the halls. He hit the button for the elevator, and when it didn't show up in five seconds, Danny was beelining for the stairs. Flack chased him up the stairwell. "Danny! Slow down, man, I'm sure he's fine." _And I don't want to run up three flights of stairs_. _Not when I'm not chasin' someone._

But Danny had a one-track mind right now, and Flack couldn't blame him. As they hit the third floor, Danny yanked open the stairwell door and disappeared into room 304. Flack skidded to a stop outside the room with an irate nurse on his heels. "NYPD," he said, flashing the badge. "We're going to need security outside this door 24/7."

"For what?" the nurse demanded in a thick southwestern twang. Flack could see that 1) she wasn't from around here, and 2) she was just a med student, and had no authority, even though she acted like it. "Until when?"

"Until I say otherwise," Flack barked. Normally he wasn't a fan of pulling rank, but this was an exception. It was a friend…and it was _Sonny _freakin' _Sassone_. When he noticed the redhead still glaring at him, Flack shook his badge at her.

"Now," he said pointedly.

The nurse stalked off muttering something Flack was pretty sure he didn't need to hear. Flack stepped into the room. Danny was standing by the bed, catching his breath and inspecting the person lying in front of them. He was gripping his hand in a deathgrip, turning his knuckles white.

"He's back, Louie. I don't know how. But he's back. Sassone…he's after us again."

His brother didn't respond. Neither of them had expected him to. Louie Messer had been in a coma for five years. And while the doctors said there was no change every time Danny came in to visit, Danny refused to take him off life support. He was holding out for the miracle. "Louie is a tough ol' bastard," he'd told Flack more than once. "If anybody's gonna pull through, it's gonna be him."

And Flack smiled and nodded with him, even if he didn't believe it. But that's what friends did.

A young man in a hospital security uniform tapped on the door, and Flack went out into the hall to explain the situation.

Louie Messer had been beaten to within an inch of his life clearing his brother of murder five years ago. Sonny Sassone was in prison. But if he ever got out, he was going to come after the Messer brothers. It wasn't speculation, it was a statement of fact. Louie had worn a wire, gotten Sonny to confess to murder. Sonny took it as a personal affront. And he'd never liked Danny to begin with. Danny had always been the pain in the ass he couldn't control. "I'm dead serious," Flack told the guard. "If you gotta piss, you'd better wait until there's another guy here. If you need a cup of coffee, you can get Nurse Ratched down the hall there to get it for ya. But you. Don't. Move."

And then, as he watched Danny bury his head in the hand that wasn't holding his brother's…he called Mac Taylor.

"Mac….yeah, hey…no, Hawkes is wrapping it up, I'm at Angel of Mercy with Danny…we have a…situation."

* * *

"The COD is painfully obvious," Dr. Sid Hammerback noted, clicking his glasses together and pointing to the former gang member's head. "He was executed." He looked at the woman standing in front of him. "Hate to be morbid, but I wish they were all this easy."

Stella Bonasera had figured as much, but she wasn't the ME. "Did you find me a bullet?"

The ME nodded and handed her a manila evidence bag. Stella shook the bullet out onto her hand. ".45 millimeter," she noted. "Did-"

Heavy, quick footsteps stopped right behind her, and she jerked in surprise. "Mac," she breathed. "What the hell?"

"Turn him over, Sid." Mac Taylor demanded. Stella caught the concern…the anger…in his green eyes. This wasn't just another case. The only time he got that fire in his eyes was when something hit close to home for him, or anybody on the team. As Sid carefully rolled Sal Cuccione over onto his side, Stella's eyes widened. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Mac shook his head grimly. "Just got off the phone with Flack. We're definitely dealing with Sonny Sassone and the Tanglewood Boys."

"But Mac…Sonny Sassone is still in Sing Sing." Any other day, she would've laughed at the alliteration. Any other day, when it was anybody but Sassone...

"Well, I hate to ask the painfully obvious," Sid cut in, "but then how did he kill your vic?"

"I _really_ don't know if I want to know the answer to that one," Mac responded. "But even if he didn't pull the trigger, he probably knows who did."

"Where's Danny?" Stella asked. "Does he know?"

Mac nodded. "He was working the scene with Hawkes. They're at Angel of Mercy right now with Louie Messer."

Stella nodded, seeing the whole picture. "So we need to figure out what the hell Sal Cuccione did to piss off Sonny Sassone from prison."

"There's more to it," Mac added. "Hawkes found a note at the scene. 'Danny, see you soon'."

"So his ultimate goal is Danny." Stella frowned. "He's not going to like it when you pull him off this case."

"He doesn't have a choice," Mac said flatly. "IAB will have a field day. It was bad enough the first time five years ago. He can't be anywhere near this case." He took a deep breath and let it out. "And if Sassone's got feelers out, he's not safe."

He had no idea how right he was.


	4. A Phone Call

_**CHAPTER FOUR**_

Lucy chattered happily in the backseat while her mother sat tensely in the passenger's seat up front next to the stranger in the hoodie. "Where are we going?" Lindsay said, fighting to stay calm. The mother wanted to jerk the wheel, put the car into the nearest curb, the nearest tree, the nearest _skyscraper_. But the detective knew there was an innocent party in the backseat, that the chances of the baby surviving the impact was minimal…and their odds of staying alive were better if she kept her composure.

"Shut up."

Lindsay eyed the passenger side mirror. She could see Lucy's toes and hear her laughing at something only the baby found funny. _Thank God she'll be so young she won't remember any of this_, Lindsay thought as the car turned onto a busy street. There was construction going on, and the middle of the morning, so there were tourists and others about, but no one noticed the little Geo pull into an apartment lot. "Get out," the driver said coldly. "Get the baby. And don't do anything stupid."

_With Lucy in my arms, are you kidding?_ Lindsay thought as she opened the back door. "Hey Lucy Bug," she whispered as she pulled Lucy from the car seat. The stranger met her around the other side. "Upstairs. Let's go."

Lindsay carried Lucy up the back stairs. "What do you want with Danny?" she asked as they climbed the stairs.

"None of your damn business."

"He's my husband," Lindsay said shortly. "That _makes_ it my business."

"You're lucky you're holdin' that kid, lady," the stranger said as they turned a key in the lock. "Get in. Put the baby in the play pen."

Lindsay stepped through the door into an apartment that looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. And yet, as she looked around, she could see small nuances that indicated it was occupied. A duffel bag sat on the ground near a mattress on the carpet in the living room. A stereo was plugged into one wall. And she could smell garbage. Hesitantly, she set Lucy in the playpen. It sat on three legs and sat cocked on the floor, but the blanket in it appeared clean. She saw store tags on it-definitely stolen. They had planned to have a baby there. Which meant this was all premeditated.

Lucy looked around her new surroundings, batting at the netting around the playpen.

Lindsay heard the door close and lock behind her, and turned around. The hooded kidnapper waved a gun in her face. "Have a seat, _Detective Messer_," pointing Lindsay to one of the kitchen chairs. Lindsay sat down, spotting nylon cord on the tabletop.

Once she was securely fastened to the chair, her kidnapper reached for a cell phone, while pulling a small black device from their pocket. "Time to make a phone call."

* * *

Jess Angell wasn't used to being in the crime lab. The majority of the time, when she interacted with Mac Taylor and his team, she was at a crime scene. Very rarely did she venture up to see what the scientists were doing. Oh sure, the science was cool and all that, but there was something about being on the beat, getting her heels and hands dirty. Chasing guys twice her size down and throwing them into fences and cardboard boxes. The equipment and the low hum and the fourteen-syllable chemical names tended to make her nervous and feel slightly stupid, even with her four year degree.

Plus, there was the added bonus of getting to work with her boyfriend and partner downstairs…

She hefted the evidence box onto her hip and made a left into Mac's office. "Hey, Mac, you called?" she asked, stepping into the room. She set the box down on his desk. "Here's everything labeled 'Sassone'," she added, hefting the box she'd brought with her onto his desk. "The guys still talk about him," she noted. "Is he really that bad?"

"Normally I wouldn't give him the satisfaction, but, yes, he really is that bad," Mac replied, taking the lid off the evidence box.

"You talked to Danny yet?"

"Danny's at Angel of Mercy with Flack and his brother." Mac said.

Her heart skipped a beat when he mentioned Flack's name, but professionally, she stayed on task. "And Lindsay?" she asked. "Anybody heard from her? Have we gotten protective detail for her and Lucy?"

Mac paused. He knew Lindsay was working a later shift than Danny but…he looked at his watch. Getting the baby to daycare on the 14th floor took a little bit of work, expecially with the new part-timer running the desk. But still... Then he looked at Angell. Realization set in.

"I didn't see her on my way here," Jess told him, frowning. "Mac? Have you heard from Linds yet?"

* * *

Flack handed Danny the cup of coffee as they stood outside on the street by the ER entrance. "Any of the other Tanglewood Boys still around out there?" Flack asked him.

Danny took a sip of the black coffee and shook his head. "Nah, over the years they've been picked up. Sonny's in Sing Sing doin' 25 to life, Sal Zabo's six feet under…" He shook his head. "I don't know who'd plug Sal Cuccione. I don't know _why_ either."

"Sonny's obviously got someone on the outside doin' his dirty work," Flack said. "I can have Angell check the visitation records and his phone call logs, see who he's been talkin' to."

Danny felt his phone ring in his jeans pocket. He looked at the phone. CALLER BLOCKED. _Better not be a damn telemarketer._ He didn't know how the _hell _they got his cell phone number-"Yeah, Messer," he answered.

The tinny voice on the end of the line was short and calculated. "Detective Messer, listen carefully and your wife and daughter will remain unharmed."

Danny froze. His heart stopped, and he could feel the color drain from his skin. _This better be the worst joke _ever, he thought as he fought to keep his composure. _Jesus Christ…_"I'm listening," he said in what he hoped was his regular tone. He set the coffee cup down on top of a cement garbage can, for fear he might drop it.

"Can you get away from Detective Flack?"

_He was watching him_! Danny ran a hand through his hair and glanced around. "Do not draw attention to yourself, Detective Messer. Move away from Detective Flack and I will continue with my instructions."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay," Danny said. Flack raised an eyebrow.

"It's Mac, something about the Clarkson case, I'll be back in a sec," he said, hoping his voice didn't belie the terror and nervousness he felt. He also hoped his friend didn't catch his shaking hands or the fact that he was sweating bullets. He felt lightheaded. _Jesus Christ...oh shit...Lindsay...Lucy... _He'd thought Lucy and Lindsay were both safe at the lab, God, he wasn't expecting this!

Flack looked at him. Something didn't seem quite right. He'd been a detective a long time, but more importantly, he'd been friends with Danny too long. Something was bugging him. But then he nodded. "I'll give Jess a call." He pulled out his phone and stepped off to the side.

Danny walked quickly down to the street corner, looking around. _This is fucking Manhattan-everybody's got a damn phone_! And everybody seemed to be on one as he stopped and looked furtively around the area. "Who the hell are you?" he growled into the phone. "What the fuck do you want with my family?"

The voice on the end of the phone was silent, and for a moment, Danny thought he'd lost the call. Then the voice spoke again. "Do you remember me, _Detective_?"

Danny closed his eyes, but the voice didn't ring a bell in his head. "Let me talk to my wife," he said instead. Hostage negotiation classes at the academy seemed so far away in this moment.

"You _don't_ remember me, do you?" the voice said, sounding angry at the fact.

"Lose the voice changer and talk to me like a _man! _I put a lot of scumbags like you away every day," Danny hissed into the phone. "Let me talk to my wife!" He could hear Lucy wailing in the background, and it was breaking his heart. He wanted to reach through the phone and pick her up, rub her back until she smiled at him with her mother's eyes. He rubbed his face with his free hand, forcing himself to stay cool. "Hello?" he asked.

He didn't hear anything. He took the phone away from his ears and looked at the display.

The call time was blinking at him. The kidnapper had hung up. The display dimmed, as if mimicking his mood, which had sunk to its darkest corner. _Some psycho has my Lindsay…my baby girl…_

"Fuck!" Danny yelled, startling several of the passersby closest to him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he knocked it away and turned around. "Get the hell away from-"

Flack's blue eyes were narrowed at him. "What the _hell_ is going on?" he demanded.


	5. Helpless

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.**

**Author's Note: Muchas gracias to all my reviewers. Enjoy Chapter 5!**

_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

Lucy Messer was her father's child. She had his hair, she had his cheeky sense of humor, even at nine months, and she had his temper. The baby was on her hands and knees in the play pen, her face red and scrunched up, and she was screaming. She was looking right at her mother, as if to say, "Momma, I want _out!_ And you're just sitting there!"

Lindsay wanted nothing more than to run to her baby girl, pick her up and hug her. But with a gun in her face and her hands tied together, there was little she could do. She sat across the room, helpless as her daughter was miserable not ten steps away. She decided it was the most terrible, _horrible_, awful feeling in the entire world-to know your child was in danger and scared and crying and not being able to help them.

She looked up at the kidnapper as they hung up the phone and stepped away from the window. While they had sounded menacing and threatening on the phone, Lindsay knew the truth.

Staring down the barrel of a .45 pistol, menace in their eyes, was a _woman_; mid to late thirties. She had long blonde hair that hung frizzy and wildly around her face, framing flushed cheeks and wild green eyes. She was wearing loose carpenter's jeans that the black studded belt barely kept around her waist, and an oversized Yankees hoodie. And while she'd sounded cool and collected on the line, face-to-face she was livid and, Lindsay felt, ready to snap.

"Shut up!" she yelled over her shoulder at Lucy. Lucy's response was to cry even louder.

"You're scaring her!" Lindsay cried. "Please let me hold her. She'll stop if you let me hold her."

"No. No freakin' way," the woman said, punctuating the _no's_ with a jab with the gun. "Do you think I'm stupid? I'm _not_ stupid!"

"No, no, I know you're not," Lindsay reassured her quickly.

Lucy's wailing became more pronounced. Lindsay could tell the incessant, high-pitched cry was irritating the blonde to no end. "She'll stop if you let me hold her," Lindsay said again. "Look, I'll sit right here. You can bring her over to me. We'll sit right here, and I'll calm her down."

She didn't want that woman so much as _looking_ at her daughter…but she wasn't just going to let Lindsay stand up and move around. The blonde covered her ears as Lucy's crying became more of a high-pitched siren. "Shut up, damn it!" she yelled. She turned from Lindsay and strode deliberately toward Lucy.

"No!" Lindsay yelled, nearly removing her shoulders from their sockets as she fought to get her hands loose. The blonde picked Lucy up. The baby squirmed as she brought her over to Lindsay. Then, she set Lucy down. The baby wailed on the carpet, inches from Lindsay's feet. She reached around Lindsay and Lindsay felt her hands give way. Feeling immediately started coming back to her fingers as she leaned down and picked up her daughter, holding her to her chest as tightly as she could. Tears welled in her eyes as she reassured Lucy-and herself- "It's going to be okay, baby girl."

She could feel rope tightening around her ankles, but she didn't care. She had her daughter in her arms. She wasn't going anywhere, anyway.

* * *

The air inside Mac Taylor's office was suffocatingly warm.

Mac, Stella, Sheldon Hawkes, Adam Ross, Flack and Danny were all gathered in the head CSI's office.

Danny was pacing. Flack had told him to sit down twice, but his friend wasn't having any of it. Hawkes had offered him a glass of water, but Danny had only shook his head and said, "Unless that's got a shot of Absolut in there, I don't want it."

"Tell us about the phone call again," Stella said finally.

Danny threw his hands in the air. "I didn't recognize the voice, the number was restricted, and there was no way to get a ping on a tower. Me tellin' you about the call again isn't gonna do any good."

Any other day, Adam Ross would've started laughing at how much more pronounced Danny's thick accent got when he was pissed about something (Lord knows he'd heard enough of it in the Trace lab) but instead, the tech said, "Just one more time, Danny. Maybe we'll catch something in the way he said things."

Danny glared at Adam, enough to make his friend shrink back, but then he let out a breath and shook his head. "He told me to listen carefully," he recounted, yet again. "That if I listened he wouldn't hurt Linds or Lucy. He told me to get away from Flack."

"So he was close enough to be watching you," Hawkes said.

"Which meant he coulda been on the street or in any of the buildings around the hospital," Danny pointed out. "That doesn't help much. That area is nothing but office space and apartment buildings."

"It gives us an area to start looking," Mac said from his desk. "Keep going, Danny."

Danny closed his eyes, replaying the one-sided conversation in his head. "He asked if I remembered him."

"Do you? Does anything sound familiar, anything ring a bell?" Stella asked.

He shook his head firmly. "No. I don't have a clue what the hell he's talkin' about. And he got real upset with me when I told him as much. It wouldn't have helped anyway, they were usin' some kind of modulator, made the voice all funky." His exact words to the kidnapper didn't need to be repeated.

"Then what?"

"And then he hung up on me," Danny said. He sank to the leather couch, ran a hand through his hair and letting it slide down to his neck. "I could hear Lucy in the background." He looked up at Flack. "My baby girl was cryin' and I couldn't do anything about it." Suddenly, Detective Danny Messer: Tough Guy was gone, and in his place was Danny Messer: Daddy. He buried his head in his arms and cried. "It's _my_ fault. It's my fault this happened."

Mac Taylor had only ever seen Danny Messer like this one other time. As Flack looked away so he wouldn't start crying himself, and as Stella held Danny and let him cry, Mac was vaulted back outside Angel of Mercy at one in the morning as Danny Messer sobbed into his shoulder as his brother Louie lay in a coma three floors above their heads.

"Danny." He said it so sharply that Adam jumped and Hawkes's dark eyes snapped to Mac's face in a split second, even though he hadn't said either of their names.

Danny's eyes met his. "We're going to figure this out," he said. "We're going to find the connection. And we're going to get your family back."

And the way he said it left no room for argument.


	6. A Dance with the Devil

_**Chapter 6:**_ **A Dance With the Devil**

Jess Angell had never met Sonny Sassone. But people around the precinct still talked about him. About how he was a lecherous, smart-assed hood who had his sticky hands in a lot of pies. So naturally, when Flack asked if she wanted to ride along to Sing Sing… she jumped at the chance. On the way, Flack filled her in about Sassone's sordid past…and Louie and Danny Messer.

"Danny used to roll with Tanglewood?" Jess asked, turning the heat down in the car.

"He never really 'rolled' with Tanglewood," Flack clarified. "He was with them the night Sonny killed that kid at Giants Stadium. Even then he wasn't really hanging with them. He just happened to be in the wrong place." He realized how ridiculous he'd just sounded. _He was but he wasn't...well, he sorta was..._

He caught Jess grinning at him. "You sounded like a sixth grader."

He shook his head with a smile. "He was with the wrong people," he clarified, feeling his ears turn red. Hey, it wasn't his fault that his partner made him so tongue-tied.

"At the very wrong time," Jess replied, and Flack nodded as he signaled to turn into the prison gate. "Considerin' he wasn't even at the stadium when Sonny offed that kid, he almost got nailed for his murder. But his brother-Louie-he saved his ass."

* * *

Jess ignored the cat calls as she walked with Flack to one of the interrogation rooms. "Hey baby…" a tattooed, bald male whistled from his cell. The guard slammed on the cell bars with his nightstick. "Shut up, Morton," he bit. "She's an NYPD detective."

Morton grinned, a sight that made Jess want to go home and shower. "I was talkin' to _him_," Morton replied, jerking his chin at Flack.

Flack turned around. He shook his head. "Nah, you're not my type, asshole. But the guy across the hall…I think he's right up your alley." They turned a corner into another cellblock before Morton could make another smart-assed comment, though Flack heard the convict in the cell across from Morton plainly tell him to fuck off. _Careful buddy, Morton might take that as an invitation._

"We'll bring in Sassone in a sec," the guard told the two detectives. "Have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable." He closed the door behind them.

Jess snorted. "Comfortable, my ass," she muttered. Flack grinned.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the door buzzed open and in shuffled Sonny Sassone. His hair was a little longer, a little greasier, and he was a little more round, but it was definitely the man Flack remembered from five years ago. "Donnie Flack!" Sonny greeted him. "As I live and breathe, a real celebrity."

"Looks like you're gettin' the royal treatment there, Sassone," Flack acknowledged, feeling greasy just looking at the former mobster.

Sassone sized up Jess and whistled. "Who's your partner, Flack? You gettin' a little action in the back of your squad car?"

"Tryin' to get your jollies off on our sordid sex life?" Jess Angell said. "Hate to burst your bubble there, Sonny, but you ain't getting to hear jack."

"She's a spitfire, Donnie!" Sassone said with a chuckle. "I hope you're hittin' that."

"Speakin' of hits," Flack cut in, noting that Jess was getting a little hot under the collar. The fact that Sassone had mentioned a semblance of a personal relationship between the two had him wondering. It could just have been Sassone being a wise ass, but if he had someone on the outside… "Let's talk about Sal Cuccione."

The instant he spoke the name, he saw recognition in Sassone's eyes. "Cucci?" he said. "Hell, I ain't seen or heard from Cucci in twenty-five years."

"Someone put a bullet in his forehead last night," Jess told him, and Sassone nodded.

"Did humanity a favor then, didn't they. What's this gotta do with you two gracin' my presence today?" The greasy convict folded his hands on his belly and leaned back in his chair.

"Dead men _do_ tell tales, Sonny," Flack replied. "Sal had a note in his pocket for one of our detectives. You remember Danny Messer, don't you?"

"How is little Danny doin'?" Sonny asked. "His brother still a veggie?"

Flack bristled, but kept his composure. "What's 'see ya soon' mean, Sonny?" he asked him. "Cause from what I know, you ain't getting out of here any other way than a body bag."

Sonny shrugged. "I dunno what you're talkin' about there, Donnie." The use of his first name was riling Flack, and Sonny knew it.

"I think you made a call, told someone to put a bullet in Sal," Jess said smoothly, taking over. "I hear you're pretty good at that. You've got a long reach, even from behind a cell door."

"You know, as tempting as it would be to plug that sonofabitch," Sonny agreed, "I didn't do nothin' of the sort."

"What are we gonna find when we pull the prison phone records?" Jess asked. "Or the visitor's log?"

Sonny pondered that. "Got a call from my lawyer day before last," he said. "And my mama came to visit a week ago."

"Your mama's dead, Sassone," Flack said, rolling his eyes.

Sonny didn't miss a beat. "Well, hell I wonder who that was then." He grinned at Flack. "Maybe that was _your_ mama instead?"

"I think we're done here," Jess said before Flack could come up with a retort. She stood up, caught Sassone checking out her ass in the two way glass. "You're right Flack," she said as they left the room, loud enough for Sassone to hear, "he really _is_ a lecherous smart ass."

"Be still my heart!" she heard Sonny call.

* * *

She shivered as they got out to the car. "I need a bath in rubbing alcohol," Jess said as they got into the car.

"Me too," Flack agreed. He maneuvered the car out to the highway and headed back towards the city. Then he glanced sideways out of the corner of his eye. "You're off the clock pretty soon, right?" he asked with a grin. "So about that bath…"

"_Now_ who's the lecherous smart ass?" Jess teased.

The skyline came into view a while later. He and Jess had sat in silence the entire time, except for a phone call to Mac Taylor to let him know what had gone down. Mac asked him a question, and Flack honestly didn't know how to answer him. When he finally hung up, Flack asked Jess the same question, "Did we get anywhere with him?" He stared out onto the highway, trying to put it all together in his head.

Jess shook her head. "No. Like the rest of Sonny's life…that was a dead end."


	7. Casa de Messer

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.**

**Author's Note: RL got in the way of FicLife, but I'm happy to say I'm settled, more or less, and back at it. For your review...Chapter 7.**

_**CHAPTER SEVEN: Casa de Messer**_

_Call_.

Danny sat alone in the office he shared with his wife, slumped over his desk. His phone sat an inch from his nose.

_Call, damn you._

His eyes drifted over to the first family photo they'd taken. Lindsay was dressed in a ¾-sleeve green blouse that highlighted her eyes. She was propped on her hand behind him, one hand draped in front of him over his black T-shirt, her other hand resting on their daughter's back. Lucy wore a yellow onesie, a baby headband with a bow in her hair, sleeping soundly in front of her daddy's chest. Those were his girls. _If anything happens to them-_

"Hey."

The voice made him jump two feet. He involuntarily swore, and turned around.

"I'm sorry," Stella apologized. She held out a mug with a Yankees logo on it. "Coffee. You haven't eaten yet. Figured this would help."

He ran a hand through his already spikier-than-usual hair. "Yeah. Yeah, thanks."

"Hawkes found a footprint at the crime scene. We're working on finding a tread match," Stella offered. "And I'm running the bullet from Cuccione's head wound through IBIS-see if I can't get a hit." She sat down on the edge of the desk and picked up the Messer family photo. "This is my favorite picture out of all the ones they took that day," she said. "I said it the day she was born and I'll say it again-she looks just like you." She winked. "Poor kid."

Danny chuckled shortly and took a sip of the piping hot coffee and leaned back in his chair. "I hate sitting here, waitin' for the jackass to call," he said. "I hate feeling this useless."

"You know why Mac doesn't want you anywhere near this case."

"Yeah yeah, department protocol, IAB, yada yada. But we're gettin' nowhere. I know the stats, Stella, I know the odds," he said, setting the mug down. He jabbed a finger at the clock. "And all I can do is _sit_ here while time ticks away." Truth be told, he wanted nothing more than to start at any building in New York, and start banging down doors until he found his family. It was taking all he had to listen to Mac and stay in the office, and not go vigilante of Manhattan. But he trusted the team, and trusted his wife to keep herself and their daughter alive.

But _God_, was it killing him to stay put.

"We're doing everything we can right now, Danny," Stella said gently. She came around and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're gonna get something."

"Has anybody been to my apartment?" Danny asked.

Stella nodded. "Adam's over there now."

* * *

_Casa de Messer_.

Adam had been out with Danny plenty of times. Beers and pool at Sullivan's were always a good way to unwind after a case from hell. But he'd never been to Danny's apartment. He left Danny's Harley in the elevator. Hawkes had asked him to take the department Avalanche and Danny's bike back. Flack lived down the street-he could give Danny a ride home after this was all over. He unlocked the door with Danny's key, and, kit and gloves in hand, stepped into the apartment.

It was definitely oh-so-Danny. A Giants pennant hung in the living room above the couch. The pool table was in the middle of the floor and Adam didn't even want to know why there was a fleece Mets blanket folded up at one end with a pillow on top. There wasn't much for furniture-a couch and an easy chair, an end table. A bookshelf, with Tom Clancy and some old textbooks which Adam guessed were from Danny's academy days. He was surprised to find a picture of he and Aiden Burn together in uniform sitting on the end table. Adam hadn't ever met Aiden, but he was pretty sure he'd have liked her, and Danny still talked about his old partner. Lindsay even teased him occasionally that he had "another woman". The kitchen had dishes in the sink, and the refrigerator had a list of things to buy, most of which seemed to revolve around home repair and DIY.

Yet it was clear Lindsay lived here too. A picture frame with multiple frames intertwined hung above Danny's flat screen, with interconnected shots of the Manhattan skyline, a snowcapped mountain, pictures of Danny and Louis, Danny and Lindsay, Lindsay and the baby, Lindsay and her parents and sister. Next to the DIY list on the fridge was a recipe for some Italian dish Adam couldn't pronounce, and a grocery list to accompany it. Even Lucy left an imprint-the baby playpen, the squeaky toys and rattles strewn around, the pint-sized Rangers baseball hat lying on the back of the couch…

He dusted the doorknob and got a hit-their kidnapper hadn't worn gloves. Adam pulled a usable print and tucked it into his kit for AFIS. With luck it might also contain some epithelial DNA. He used his flashlight, trying to shed some light on what had happened after Danny'd left for work that morning.

The light illuminated some small specks of something on the ground in the doorway. Adam got down on his hands and knees and looked at the specks. _Looks like dirt._ There was a lot of that in this city. But he bagged it anyway. _Mac told me when I started in the field to be thorough_. He did make a note that it stopped right next to the baby playpen. Curious, he followed it out of the apartment to the elevator. _Huh_. Maybe the dirt would be worth something.

Or maybe it would be worth that…just dirt.

* * *

Two hours later, he packed up his kit and took one last look around the apartment. He had been thorough. He was going to get this guy for Danny. He went out to the elevator and pulled Danny's Harley Davidson out into the hallway, and walked it to the door. Then he gently pushed it into the apartment, and parked the beloved bike in the kitchen. He went to the couch, grabbed the little Rangers hat and a teddy bear, and set them both on the bike. He put the Rangers hat on the bear backwards.

Danny would get a kick out of that. And he and Lindsay would need something positive to come home to after a day like today. Smiling, he closed the door behind him.


	8. Breaks

_**CHAPTER EIGHT: **_**Breaks**

Lucy was sleeping.

Lindsay was tired from the stress of the day as well, but no way in hell was she closing her eyes. She rocked her baby girl gently in her arms. And now while it was quiet and she had some time to think, she started plotting a way to get them home.

The woman was pacing. Lindsay profiled her for something to do. It beat worrying. She was about five-eleven, taller than Lindsay. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail. She was very plain looking and didn't wear makeup. Yet Lindsay spotted a ring on her right middle finger. Silver, a plain band with a green stone.

She used a distorter to talk on the cell phone, holding it in place with one hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. Lindsay knew Danny would have heard a very electronically-changed voice, and probably thought it was a man.

Lindsay was pissed, thinking about it. If the woman didn't have a gun Lindsay could totally take her one-on-one. She pushed Lucy's headband back on her head and kept rocking her. Back to the kidnapper. Her clothes were at least a size or two too large for her-the jeans, the hoodie, the jersey, all large. And when she'd come close to Lindsay, she'd smelled men's cologne-and _not_ a good smell, at least to Lindsay's mind. Thinking about it made her think of Danny and Lucy together-a unique combination of Axe and baby powder. Her heart ached for Danny. _He must be going out of his mind_.

She was wearing men's clothing. It was obvious, based on the size and the style. So who was the man? Did he give her the ring she was wearing? Why was she wearing a wardrobe that seemed more suited for someone half her age?

More importantly…who _was_ she, and who was the _we_ that wanted Danny?

* * *

"Boom!"

Blake Davidson jumped six feet in the air, and nearly dropped the swab he was holding. The silver-haired tech shot a death glare over his shoulder at an elated Adam Ross.

Adam was doing his victory dance. He didn't even notice Blake's death glare. Not that it would've mattered anyway-Blake had a surly attitude toward everybody at the lab-except for Lucy Messer.

"You're in a good mood," Hawkes noted, coming into the lab. "And don't let Danny hear you-I think he's got that word trademarked."

"He'll let me borrow it just the once when he hears what I got," Adam replied. "Where's he at, anyway?"

"Mac's office. You want me to go get him?"

"Ah…no. No, better plan. Let me print this off and I'll totally meet you there. What up!" He hit PRINT on the screen.

* * *

Danny stared at the lockers in front of him. This time of day, the employee locker room was dead quiet. It wouldn't get crazy until shift change in three hours.

He looked at his watch. Had he really been at work six hours already? Had Lindsay and Lucy been MIA for that long already?

His head pounded. _God, I don't think I've ever prayed to you before. But today I'm beggin' you-please let my daughter and my wife come home safe. I don't think I could make it without them._

There was a hand on his shoulder, and he jerked. He looked up to see Flack standing behind him. "You okay?" Flack asked him.

Danny raised an eyebrow.

Flack smiled grimly. "All right. Dumb question." He sat down next to his friend on the bench. "Lindsay's a trooper, Danno," he said. "And Lucy's as stubborn as you are."

He got him to smile. Which is what he'd been goin' for. "I hate just sittin' here, Flack," Danny said. "If Sassone or anyone connected to him has my family…" He shook his head. "Sonny always was a loose cannon. Pretty sure you coulda diagnosed him psychotic."

"I just talked to the sonofabitch," Flack replied. "Pretty sure you still could."

"I can't figure how Sal connects to it all," Danny said. "I've been so worried about Linds and Lucy that I forgot why I came to work this morning."

"How did you know Sal? He wasn't there the night Sonny offed that drug dealer," Flack said. "I remember reading the case notes."

Danny closed his eyes. "This was before that whole thing went down. That was '91…this was '88. I asked Louie for a ride to a friend's place that night. He told me he had to make a quick stop first…except that quick stop was to a parking lot at Pelham Bay Park."

"Tanglewoods in Pelham territory?" Flack shook his head. "That only means one thing."

Danny nodded. "Sonny, Sal and Louie were trashed. And then the Pelham kids showed up."

* * *

_August, 1988_

"_Come on Louie, let's get the hell outta here," Danny begged his brother. "You just got outta juvie, man, come on."_

"_Take the car and go home, Danny," Louie told his brother. "We got somethin' we need to handle."_

"_Come with me," Danny tried again._

"_Sal, you moron!" he heard Sonny yell. Then he heard knuckle on skin._

"_Get the fuck out of here, Danny," Louie barked. "You don't need to be here for this."_

_And Danny left. Because Louis was right-whatever this was, he _didn't_ need to be there for it._

* * *

"I don't know exactly what went down that night," Danny finished. "A fight. One that roughed Louie up pretty bad. Not as bad as…you know…"

Flack nodded.

"Anyway, so now it's twenty odd years later and here's Cuccione shot execution style. He didn't do anything that night that woulda cost him his life 20 years later." He shook his head. "Hell, I don't even know if that night has anything to do with now. I've just been thinkin' about it since this all went down."

"We're gonna figure it all out," Flack said. "Sing Sing is faxing over the visitation logs and the phone records to Jess this afternoon."

"_Why_ won't they call, Flack?" Danny asked his friend, looking at him, his tone of voice sounding worried. "I tried calling the number back but the phone must be off. I need to hear Montana's voice," he said, his voice cracking. "I need to hear my baby girl laugh, or cry. I don't think I can hold it together."

"Suck it up, Mess," Flack told him. "You gotta stay strong." He clapped his friend on the back. "Linds can't wear the pants in your marriage _all_ the time." Part of him felt horrible for making jokes. But it was keeping them both together.

The door to the locker room opened and Hawkes poked his head through. "This isn't Mac's office," he noted.

Flack raised an eyebrow. "I can see why they promoted you to detective," he deadpanned.

Hawkes smirked. "Adam's got something for us."

Danny shot straight up. _Hallelujah, a break! _He practically flew to Mac's office, nearly bowling Hawkes over. He nearly knocked over a lab tech, and Flack caught the kid before they fell over, before skidding into Mac's office behind Danny.

Adam was hopping from one foot to the other and holding a printout in his hand.

"Whaddya got, Adam?" Danny demanded, his heart pounding.

"The kidnapper left prints on your doorknob," Adam said. "There wasn't a hit in AFIS-"

Danny swore.

"-_but_," Adam said, continuing and ignoring him, "I managed to score some epithelial DNA. And our kidnapper is a female."

"Whoa," Flack said. "Wasn't expecting that."

"You aren't expecting this, either," Adam added. "The DNA has a loci match to someone in the system." He looked pointedly at Danny. "And it's someone you know."

"You're killin' me, Adam, spit it out!" Danny growled.

"The DNA is a match to Sonny Sassone."

Suddenly, it hit Danny like a ton of bricks, and he smacked his forehead. "Son of a _bitch_!"

* * *

**Author's Note****: Now that life has settled some, I can update more regularly. Sorry to leave ya with a cliffie, but I just wouldn't be me without 'em. Like it, love it, hate it, drop me a line.**


	9. Motive

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"- they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.**

**Author's Note: Hope what's comin' makes sense. Enjoy!**

_**CHAPTER NINE: Motive**_

_August, 1988_

_Two weeks before the fight with the Pelham boys_

"_Hey Messer!"_

_Danny tossed his cigarette on the ground and looked up from the wooden stairs. "Hey! Sassone!" he mimicked with a grin as he flipped his baseball cap backwards._

_Amanda Sassone came up to join him, wearing a pair of shorts and a jean jacket over a pink tanktop. She was tossing a baseball back and forth between her hands. She lobbed it at Danny, who caught it. He overhand pitched it back. "What are you doin' down here?"_

"_Sal's in the back with Louis and Sonny and Zabo," she said, rolling her eyes. "I love Sal, I do. But when he gets around my brother, he turns into a mini-Sonny." She grinned. "Lord knows we don't need any more of them in the world!"_

"_That's for sure," Danny agreed. "So what…you decided to come hang with the outcasts?"_

_She threw the ball back, narrowly missing his nose. "Better than hanging with them," Amanda sighed. "The cig smoke and booze is so bad I'm gettin' secondhand smoke AND drunk by association! Oh, and right now Sonny's chewin' Sal's ass for something. Half the time I can't figure out why my brother set me up with Sal Cuccione in the first place." She sat down, cross-legged on the cement below Danny. "You're so lucky you're gettin' out of here, Danny."_

"_Not for another three years," Danny argued. "Til then I'm still stuck here."_

"_But you're getting out," Amanda said again. She sighed, leaning back against the trailer. "That baseball scholarship's the best thing that ever happened to you-to anybody around here. I wish I could get out of here."_

_Danny let the baseball fall to the ground. It rolled, coming to a stop in front of Amanda's feet. "There's no reason you can't, Manda," he told her._

_She snorted and waved her arm around. "Uh, I don't know if you've noticed, Danny, but my brother is the head of Tanglewood."_

"_And this affects you…how?"_

_She sighed, twisting the ring on her finger. Danny wasn't supposed to know, but he did, that Sonny and Sal Zabo had held up a Pelham grunt and his girlfriend a week ago, and the ring Amanda wore was the girlfriend's. "Sonny had given it to his sister. "Dad's in prison. Mom's disconnected." She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. "Someone needs to try to bring him back to the good side."_

"_It doesn't have to be you," Danny told her._

_She bit her bottom lip and nodded. "No one else wants the job so...yeah, it does." She stood up. "I'm gonna walk back to Sal's. You mind letting him know where I went?"_

"_Yeah," Danny said unhappily. Then he said, "Hey."_

_She turned., buttoning up her jacket. "What, Danny?"_

"_I'll miss you."_

_She smiled sadly. "I'll miss you too, Danny."_

* * *

"Where is Amanda Sassone now?" Hawkes asked Danny after he finished his story.

Danny glanced over at Flack. "Amanda never made it back to Cuccione's. Two Pelham bruisers were out lookin' for a fight, and they found Sonny's little sister and Sal's girl." He looked at Flack. "They raped her, Flack. They had their fun, and then they left her on the curb. Sal found her, took her back to her brother." He looked at Flack. "That's why they were in that parking lot," he said. "Sonny, Sal and the rest of them…they were lookin' to beat up a couple Pelham boys." He sighed. "I should have stayed. I should have helped Manda's sake, hell, her _honor_, I should've been there." _As her friend_, he thought miserably. He'd almost forgotten about that night until now. _Why didn't I think of this sooner?_

"Danny, if you had gotten involved, who knows what would have happened," Stella pointed out, but Danny only shook his head.

"I never saw Amanda after that. When I'd go to Sonny's place to see her, he told me she didn't want anything to do with me." He sighed. "I don't know what happened to her after that. I never saw her again. Three years later, Sonny popped that drug dealer, Louis called me a disgrace…and I went to play baseball and never looked back."

"Adam, run a search for Amanda Sassone," Mac said. "Property, phone records, anything you can get your hands on."

"Got it," the tech said, and disappeared from Mac's office, just about nailing Blake in the process. Then he smacked his forehead, and skidded back to Mac's office. "Um, I just remembered I've got some stuff running in Trace-"

"I'll take care of it," Stella cut in, and Adam nodded, nearly tripped over backwards, and hustled out of the room again.

"Danny, you and Flack go back to Queen of Mercy," Mac instructed. "If we get something, we'll let you know. I don't think your brother's still a target, but we can't be too sure."

"Got it," Flack said, and he and Danny headed for the elevator. As they stepped inside and the doors closed, Flack offered Danny a smile. "We're gonna get her."

And Danny allowed himself to smile back, just a little. He wouldn't smile for real until his girls were in his arms.

But they were close.


	10. So Close, and Yet

**CHAPTER TEN****: So Close, and Yet...**

_Taptaptaptaptaptap-_

"Adam, knock it off already," Hawkes barked.

Adam slapped the desk with his hand, letting his dancing fingers stay still. "Sorry," he said. In front of them, the A/V computers whirred with information as **Sassone, Amanda** ran through numerous databases. DMV, NY Housing, various employee databases..."We're just so close, we're like, _right_ there," Adam said. "You know, I told Mac we needed to upgrade this system. It's like, prehistoric."

"Adam...this software was bought new last year."

"Yeah, and it already needs a patch and an upgrade," Adam replied. And since he was unable to do anything but sit and worry while the dinosaur walked-

_Taptaptaptaptaptaptap-_

Then the computer beeped. "Yes!" Hawkes exulted.

Adam shot him a Look. "And _I'm_ bad?" he asked rhetorically. But he couldn't blame him. The stress of the day was wearing on them all.

Hawkes picked up his phone and speed-dialed Danny.

"Danny? Yeah, it's Hawkes. There's a Sassone renting an apartment-#322 Hathaway Way, apartment 81A. I'll call Stella and Mac, they and Angell can meet you there."

* * *

"She put her own name on the lease?...Yeah, I got it, thanks buddy! Flack, turn here!" Danny hung up. "322 Hathaway Way."

Flack floored it, skidding through the stop light and almost throwing Danny out the passenger's side. Danny stared out the window, his features set in a grim line, his heart pounding. _Hang on Montana, hang on baby girl. I'm coming._

_Daddy's coming._

The phone rang just as Flack pulled into the parking lot of Queen of Mercy. If Amanda was watching, Danny didn't want her to see him coming. She needed to feel like she was still in charge. He hadn't done anything else by the book today but right now was where he had to. Danny saw CALLER BLOCKED on his phone and his arm lashed out, gripping Flack's forearm before his friend could exit the car. Flack raised an eyebrow, and Danny said simply, "It's her."

Flack motioned his friend forward, and they both started down the street. Some people stopped and stared as Flack drew his gun, but the flash of gold at his hip made them keep walking.

Danny hit SEND. "Hello?"

"Do you remember me yet, Danny?"

Wondering how much he should let on, Danny decided that honesty was the best policy. "Yeah, Amanda, I do."

There was a derisive snort on the end of the line. "You don't sound happy to see me, Danny," she said, losing the voice modulator and returning to the voice Danny had known growing up.

"Well, this isn't the best way to have a reunion, Manda," Danny said. "Can I…please, can I talk to my wife?" His voice broke and he hated himself for it.

There was a pause, the sound of some shuffling, and then his heart broke when he heard Lindsay scream, "_No!"_ Lucy started crying, and Danny threw a hand to his eyes and blinked furiously. Flack looked pained.

Then, "Talk to him, already." Lucy was still howling in the background. "I ain't gonna hurt the kid, just talk to your goddamned husband!"

"Montana?" Danny asked into the phone.

"Danny."

A weight lifted off his chest and Danny let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Thank God, Montana, are you and Lucy okay?"

"I'm fine," Lindsay reported, and Danny could hear the tone in her voice. She was fighting hysterics. He knew her too well. She couldn't hide that from him. "Lucy's all right, too." Now she sounded pissed. _That's my girl_.

"We're comin' to get you, baby, okay? We're gonna be there in seconds. I'll be there-"

He heard Lindsay swear, and then Amanda came back on the line. "Time's up," she informed him coolly.

"Why, Manda?" Danny asked, purposely using his pet name for her. "Why would you do this? Did you kill Sal, too?"

There was a pause, and Danny decided it was time to get moving. He sprinted down the sidewalk, Flack hot on his heels as they dodged traffic. Up ahead, he could see police red and blue flashing in the sun. "Manda?" he asked, nearly breathless. _Almost there. We're almost there._

"You're so lucky, Danny, you know that?" she asked him finally. "You got out. You got married. You had a kid. She's beautiful, by the way. Looks just like you."

_When she says it, it sounds like an insult_. "And, so what? You're jealous?" He stopped short in front of the apartment building. A few residents saw the police and made themselves scarce.

Mac Taylor could have guessed why, but they had bigger fish to fry right now. Mac tossed Danny a bulletproof vest; he caught it with one hand and Jess Angell helped him put it on.

The empty silence on the end of the phone made Danny realize just that...she was. The two of them had come from the same background. The same neighborhood. The same school. Amanda was beautiful, she was smart, she was funny. She should have had it all.

But not after that night...after that, her life was upended, and Danny's drove smoothly on. _Would I have been a little jealous? Absolutely. Would I have gone off the fucking deep end?_

He thought about all the calls he made to Sonny's, asking about Amanda. All the calls to Sal, who just drank himself into oblivion. All the rumors around school. All the times he'd stopped by the Sassone's house to hear Sonny yell, "Get the hell outta here Messer, she doesn't want to fucking talk to you!" To have your life shattered, to have it seem like no one cared, that no one had your back. To feel worthless, like you had no future...then watch your only family get put away for life...

_...Maybe..._

* * *

Mac threw a hand forward, and they moved into position. As they moved through the construction in the front lobby, Stella glanced down, spotted dirt on her heels that bore a striking resemblance to the trace Adam had found in Danny and Lindsay's apartment.

_We're in the right place. I just hope, whatever happens, we aren't too late._


	11. Over and Done

**Disclaimer****: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS**

**Author's Note****: Much thanks to afrozenheart412 for conversation on this story. It's complete, just needs to be fine tuned. As always, like it, love it, hate it, drop me a review!**

_**CHAPTER ELEVEN**_

"So why all this, Manda?" Danny asked as they moved into the building. Angell sent a family scrambling back into their unit as they headed for the stairwell. "How 'bout we start with an easy one-did Sonny put you up to this?"

"Do you know what it's like?" Amanda asked him. "To only get to see your brother for ten minutes at a time? To know that you're going to outlive your big brother?"

"Yeah, matter of fact, I do," Danny bit back. "At least _your _brother gets to talk back! _Your_ brother put _my_ brother in a fucking coma!"

* * *

Lindsay couldn't hear Danny. But she had an idea of what he must have said, because Amanda suddenly yelled, "It _should_ have been _you_! You should be lying there like a vegetable, for leaving me all alone! You don't deserve what you have, Danny, you _don't_! You're _not_ the fucking _good guy_ everybody thinks you are!"

Lindsay twisted her wrist, hoping that the in her fury Amanda had made a mistake and left the knot loose. She should be so lucky. She could only watch the half-crazed woman with the gun who was standing between Lindsay and her baby and was coming unraveled.

"Sal should have _killed_ those two Pelham bruisers that night!" Amanda was yelling. "But he didn't! He was so fucking drunk that they beat the hell out of him instead! You should have been there, Danny, you were the only person who gave a rat's ass about me besides my brother! But you _weren't_! Sonny told me you ran off, got the fuck out of there before the fight went down. And then you _left_ me! You didn't even come to see how I was. I never heard from you again!" She started sobbing, which only made Lucy cry louder, and Amanda turned to the playpen. "Shut _up!_"

_Danny, please hurry!_ Lindsay begged silently.

* * *

"So what about Sal?" Danny asked as they climbed the stairs. "What'd he do to deserve a bullet in his brain almost thirty years later?"

"Sonny wanted the little maggot dead for fucking up a business deal. He couldn't do it himself; and I volunteered. Payback for him not lifting a damn _finger_ the night they tried to defend my honor. Sal Cuccione should have died _years_ ago. I was too busy wallowing in self pity-I'd lost everything, I can't have kids, Danny, did you know that? Those Pelham boys fucked me for _life_."

Stella pulled open the 8th floor door, and Danny stepped onto the floor, keeping his voice low. Down the hall, he could hear a baby crying, and jerked a thumb in that direction. "And what about me, Manda?" he asked softly. "What did my wife and baby girl ever do to you?"

"You have everything I wanted, Danny. Everything I can't have. It shoulda been you and me, Danny, getting out together." Amanda stopped, dead center of the floor, so abruptly that it made Lindsay jerk in surprise. "It's not fair. It's _not_ fair."

* * *

Just then, the door flew open. "You're right," Danny said as he stepped into the room. Lucy's tears subsided as she heard her father's voice, and Lindsay's stomach caught in her throat. Behind Danny, she could see Mac, Stella, Flack and Angell. "It's not fair. But this isn't going to fix anything. It's not gonna solve anything. Sonny's still gonna get a lethal injection, and you're still gonna be all alone. And I _tried_ to see you, Manda, I did!" He stepped into the room, his gun trained on her. "Your goddamned brother always said _you_ didn't want to see _me!_" Danny's heart was pounding. He was _scared_. Oh, God, was he scared. "But I know you, Manda. You shouldn't have had to suffer the way you did. Your brother screwed us _both_ for life. He kept us under his thumb because that's where he wanted us, and believe me, I know how _hard_ it is to get away from him." He took a step toward her cautiously. "But that asshole can't control you anymore, Manda. You're stronger than that piece of dirt."

"Don't you _fucking_ talk about my brother like that!" Amanda turned, and trained her gun on Lindsay.

"Amanda-" Lindsay said, as Danny said, "Manda! Amanda, _wait_!"

Mac, from the hall: "Put the gun down!"

"You don't know how it feels to be me."

"Yes, I do!" Danny objected. "Jesus Christ, Manda, my brother's been in a goddamned coma. I know what it's like to walk into the room and have 'em be in a situation that you wish-" Tears stung his eyes. "That you wish you coulda prevented. That they're where they are for the rest of their lives because you couldn't save them." He shook his head as the room fell silent, save for Lucy's terrified whimpers in the background. "Manda, it's not over, baby. It's _not_. You can walk away from all this. Nobody else has gotta get hurt." He took a step forward again, and his eyes flew to his wife.

Lindsay wished she could pull her husband into her arms and whisper in his ear that it was going to be okay. She cursed the circumstances that put them in this situation. She'd never been so proud of her husband.

"Sonny wouldn't let me be there for you twenty years ago. Manda...please...let me help you today."

Amanda looked around the room. At the detectives who were staring her down, guns drawn, aimed at her. She was a fuck-up, God, just like Sonny said. _You got yourself here Amanda, you put us both where we are now._ She could almost hear his greasy voice in her head, echoing off her ears, rattling around the room. _It's over, kid. It's over. You've screwed up big time. You ain't gettin' outta this. Even the great Saint Messer can't get you out of this one._

"It's over," Amanda Sassone repeated the words of a voice only she could hear.

She pulled the trigger.


	12. Aftermath

_**CHAPTER TWELVE**_

Danny dove forward, slamming Amanda into the floor. Mac, Stella and the others poured into the room. Jess swept Lucy into her arms and murmured, "Auntie Jess is here, Lucy Bug. You're okay."

Danny let Flack shove a knee into Amanda's back and pin her to the floor, as she continued to cry and cuss out Danny and the rest of the world. He scrambled to his feet and half-ran, half-crawled to his wife. "Lindsay! Montana, oh God…"

Lindsay had slumped forward in the chair, her chin resting on her chest as Stella cut the cord binding her to the chair. "Montana, come on, baby, talk to me," Danny said. He vaguely heard Mac calling for a bus. Stella cut the last knot around Lindsay's ankle and his wife came loose, falling forward into his arms. "Open your eyes, Montana," he begged, tears starting to fall. "Come on, baby."

Finally, blessedly…she half-opened her eyes. "D-Danny?"

"Shh, Lindsay, hon, you'll be all right." He saw Mac kneel down next to him and press a baby blanket to Lindsay's side. He looked concernedly into Danny's eyes, but Danny ignored his gaze and locked eyes with his wife.

"L-Lucy?" she asked, and winced. Danny tried to shift her to make her more comfortable. "She's fine, she's fine, she's with Auntie Jess and Uncle Flack," he said, forcing a smile into his voice. "Our baby girl is just fine."

She nodded, faintly. "Okay." Her eyes started to close again. Danny tilted her chin with his hand. "Hey! Goddamn it, Lindsay, stay with me. We're down the block from a hospital, you're gonna be okay."

He heard sirens. _Hurry up, hurry up hurryuphurryup- _"See, they're already here, baby girl. They're here."

But Lindsay had closed her eyes again. Danny looked at Mac, sheer terror in his eyes. "M-Mac! Mac, oh God…Lindsay, come on…Mac! Mac, help me!"

_I can't lose her. Not here. Not like this. I can't lose her…_

* * *

Two hours later later, Flack and Angell returned to Sing Sing. Sonny Sassone was already waiting for them in an interrogation room. "Donnie!" Sonny hailed him. "And your beautiful par-"

"Fuck you," Angell spat, cutting him off.

"Would like to, honey," Sonny said, not missing a beat. "But that was a little harsh…What'd I do to deserve that?"

Angell looked like she was near ready to jump the table and strangle him on the spot, so Flack took over. "You must like prison, Sonny. I mean, what is it, the food? The company? The room?"

"It's the meatloaf," Sonny said immediately, and Flack had to push aside all his anger to keep from strangling Sonny himself.

"We caught your little sister, Sonny. Doin' your dirty work?"

_Aha!_ Jess caught the flicker in Sonny's eye. "She'll be joining you," Flack told him. "You know what she told us? That she was pissed she spent all these years alone." He slapped the table. "Well, won't it be nice, she'll have some company for the next twenty-five to life-"

"Fuck you, Flack," Sonny said warningly, but Flack wasn't done.

"-and then she won't be alone anymore." Flack leaned over the table, his eyes boring into Sonny's. "Because she'll have _you_ waiting on the other side here in hell." He stood up, as Sonny started simmering in his seat.

"Enjoy the rest of your life, Sonny, what's left of it," Flack told him.

But Sonny had to have the parting shot. "How's Danny?" he asked the detective. "Manda gave me a little phone call before they booked her."

"You _son_ of a _bitch_!" Flack growled, and this time, he _did_ go over the table. Jess grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. "Flack, _no_!"

Jess shoved Flack back against the two-way glass. "Flack, back the hell off," she growled. Her partner glared at her, but she stared right back. "Don't fucking let him get off on this," she whispered to him.

Then she let go of him, and turned to Sonny. "I can't wait until they call and tell me you're about to die here in prison, Sonny," she hissed at him. "Because I'll be in the front fucking row to see you off."

* * *

The moon was starting to rise over New Jersey as Mac stepped out of the entryway and out onto the sidewalk outside Queen of Mercy. "Are you okay?" he asked Stella as he handed her the cup of hospital coffee.

She nodded, shoving her free hand into her pocket and taking a sip of the coffee. Her hands shook, and she had to set it down on the bench. She set the Styrofoam cup down with such force that some of the liquid spilled over the side, but she barely noticed it. She glanced over at Mac, who was staring intently at her. "No," she admitted. _That_ was an understatement. _The day from hell, how about that? The worst day of our lives?_

Mac agreed with a nod. He sighed. No one knew what to say anymore. He suspected it would stay that way a long time.

"Have you talked to Danny?" Stella asked after a moment.

Mac's eyes clouded over. "He's up with…with Lindsay. He's having a hard time forgiving himself for what happened today."

"None of it was his fault," Stella pointed out. "There's no way we could have stopped-"

"I know that, and you know that," Mac replied. He sighed. "But try telling Danny that."

There was silence as the two friends listened to the ambient sounds of the city, neither really enjoying the off-brand coffee. "What do you think she was thinking?" Stella asked. "I thought Danny got through to her. I thought if anything, she'd have trained the gun on _him_, or herself but…"

"Maybe she was looking for big brother's approval, one more time," Mac offered. "I don't think we'll ever know for sure. Maybe it'll come out at the trial."

"I doubt there'll be one," Stella said. "You saw her as much as I did. Any defense attorney worth his salt is going to get her an insanity plea." She looked at the sidewalk. "I don't think there was a person left anymore….just a warped shell." She shivered. Then she looked at Mac, determination in her eyes. "We have to make sure that doesn't happen to Danny. Today stripped him to a shell of the man he was. We can't let that happen to him, Mac, we can't let him lose himself…"

"It will take time," Mac replied. "But he's got their daughter to take care of. Danny's a fighter, Stel. He'll get through it. We'll be there every step of the way."

"I think we're all going to take a long time," Stella said. "But we'll make it through. We always do," she said. "One step at a time. We're gonna get through this." She looked up at Mac, determination in her eyes. "We're going to get _him_ through this."

She glanced down, saw she was holding Mac's hand. But Mac didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was squeezing it back. Whether to reassure her or him, Stella wasn't sure.

So she squeezed back. And when she started to cry, he was right there to hold her.

* * *

Adam sat in the waiting room. The cable channel was showing _Superman IV_, but he wasn't remotely interested. His eyes kept flickering toward the door across the hall. He hadn't been there, in that apartment, just blocks away today, he'd been in the A/V lab, monitoring everybody through mics and video.

Yet it still hit him as hard as if he'd actually been there. Today had shaken everybody down to the core. It had pushed them all to their limit.

He knew he'd never be the same.

* * *

Hawkes was a doctor. He knew the odds. He'd been there, he'd been in the room, listening to the blips on the monitor. Holding someone's life in his hands.

He imagined, in a sick, twisted way, that that's what Amanda Sassone thought as she stood in that room today. She held the fate of three people in her hands for ten hours.

The thing he was sure hadn't computed for Amanda Sassone today, however, was that once something happened while you held their life in your hands, you became responsible not only for their fate…but the fate of everybody intertwined with them. Her brother had kept her under his thumb for so long, using her as a pawn to do his dirty work…Hawkes hated it that he'd broken her down so much that he could use her like he had. That she'd effectively ruined her life, Danny and Lindsay's…and everybody that knew them.

He slid to the floor, his head in his hands.

* * *

**Author's Note****: This chapter and the conclusion have been written since November of last year, and I just wasn't happy with them. Thank you to lily moonlight for letting me bounce them off her to see how I could improve them. Final chapter to follow.**


	13. Awakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS. **

**Author's Note****: Witness my (not so) triumphant conclusion. I'll answer all reviews posted for these last two chapters-thanks so much for bearing with the world's WORST case of writer's block and for reading :)**

* * *

_**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**_

Silence.

After the action of the day, it seemed so much more invasive, so much more profound.

Something he was going to have to get used to.

Lucy slept in a hospital-provided bassinet in the corner. Every few seconds his gaze would flicker to the bassinet, just to make sure she was still there. He didn't want to lose her again today.

Eyes fighting back tears, he kept a deathgrip on Lindsay's hand. He glanced around the tiny room, the blips entering the back of his consciousness, breaking the silence he'd wrapped himself in.

_I'm sorry Mr. Messer….your wife is in a coma. Her injuries today were very severe. We've patched her up as well as we can but…she needs time to heal. _

"_How long?" he'd whispered, struggling to stay on his feet. Lucy whimpered in his arms, as if she understood the bad news._

"_It's too early to tell."_

He looked at his wife through blurry eyes. "H-h-hey baby," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I love you," he said. He moved a piece of Lindsay's hair from her eyes. "I love you, Montana." He flicked away tears. "I-I want you to know that…that me and Lucy, we're…we're gonna be fine, okay, baby?" He glanced quickly into the corner. "So you won't need to worry about us, okay?" He coughed, and absently rubbed the back of Lindsay's hand with his thumb. "And I want you to know…" He couldn't take being brave anymore, and his voice broke out into loud sobbing. He couldn't say anymore. All he could say, over and over, was, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…"

All that answered him were the beep, beep, beeps of the hospital equipment.

* * *

When Flack and Angell got back into the city later, Flack had Jess drop him off at the hospital. Flack rode the elevator up to fifth floor by himself, leaning against the back wall. God, he was tired. Lindsay had been in surgery when he and Angell had left. Neither of them had wanted to stay. Flack couldn't help but picture Jess lying there instead of Lindsay. And Jess, though she'd worked with Lindsay on several occasions, didn't feel comfortable waiting with everyone else. Lindsay had a great support group around her, and _someone_ had to go stick it Sonny Sassone.

She had happily volunteered. And Flack wouldn't let her go alone.

The elevator dinged and he stepped off the elevator and made his way down the hall. He cornered a doctor and asked about the condition of Lindsay Messer. He tried to stay calm as the doctor delivered the bad news. When the doctor told him he couldn't release the information to anybody but family, Flack collared him and informed him coldly that that was his _sister_ in there, damn it, so what the hell was wrong?

And then when he thanked the doctor, and shook his hand and walked away, he proceeded to punch the nearest wall. He didn't even feel it. He hoped fucking Nurse Ratched wasn't around. He'd pay for the patch job out of his next paycheck.

He made his way down the hall and stopped outside the room. He had no idea what condition Danny would be in right now. He gently opened the door.

What he saw would remain frozen in his memory as long as he lived

Danny lay curled up next to Lindsay on his side, in the fetal position, one hand thrown over her stomach, the other gripping her hand in a visegrip. His face was red; Flack could tell he'd been crying. He looked over and saw Lucy sleeping soundly.

He could have woken Danny up, sent him and Lucy home.

But he couldn't do it. So instead, he parked himself in a chair for the night and shot Angell a text that that was where he would be.

And he kept one eye on Danny, and one eye on Lucy, all night.

* * *

Two floors below, Kelly Darwin entered room 304 for a routine vitals check. "Hey there, Louie," she greeted him. She adjusted the thermostat in the room. "Just me," she said. She had been working at the hospital for a year and had been working the 3rd floor for two months. She'd heard the rumors, heard the stories about Louie Messer in room 304. How some gangbanger had put him in a coma, and how his brother came to visit him once a week, and had been ever since it happened, years ago. Kelly had never met Louie's brother Danny but the nurses at the front desk all said he was super cute. She'd just never been lucky enough to run into him.

But tonight, all fifteen floors of the hospital from triage to pediatrics to ICU were buzzing about the events of the day. Kelly felt her heart break for Danny Messer though she'd never met him. _To have your brother and your wife both here_… "Dunno if you've heard the news," she told Louie as she checked his pulse. She proceeded to fill him in on the days' events. "The whole situation sucks," she said. "Now he's got nobody but his baby girl." She wrote some notes down on the clipboard. "If he ever needed you to wake up, Louie, tonight would be the night," she told him quietly. "He could really use something happy after today."

Then she set the clipboard back in its pocket at the edge of the bed and headed for the door.

She paused. She thought she'd heard something. She turned around.

Louie Messer's green eyes were looking back at her.

**END OF PART ONE**


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